Day 1,876 of the Shoegaze Revival

Some words, and then a very certain type of record. A fifth glass of wine, and then I’m on the floor: headphones on, volume primed and loaded, layers of music, texture, reverb, until the first acknowledgement of savage dawn. It’s a reflex action; some people discover a portal into the mind of John Malkovitch in their local dysfunctional office building – I only found Kevin Shields.

I’m not sure how long the shoegaze revival has been unfolding, but it’s been far longer than the title of this post implies. Living in London for a lost and star-struck decade, the motif was one of forcing as many Asobi Seksu tracks into my ears as I could – usually when drunk, but certainly not exclusively so. Moose at Marble Arch, Lush in Leicester Square, Ultra Vivid Scene on the Underground (and even – somewhat bizarrely – Slowdive on Sunset Boulevard, the juxtaposition of So-Cal headfuck hour with a track such as ‘Souvlaki Space Station’ something that unaccountably works).

And more recently, not a great deal has changed (beyond swapping the grinding metropolis for some strange and shadowy exile); there’s still a steady flow of dream-tinged sonics washing across the stereo, each sounding so fresh and vital that any one of them could have been recorded in 1989.

*****

NYC-based Asobi Seksu (Japanese for ‘playful sex’) have been around for a decade or so, practitioners of the textured and heady variety of dream pop that I’m powerless to resist. Chainsaw guitar licks, above which floats a vocal that’s deceptively fragile; it’s only when Yuki Chikudate has drawn you in that she unleashes far grander intonations (Drowned In Sound once described her as “half Bjork, half Hello Kitty”– a sentiment I’m slightly uncomfortable with, but I can see what they’re getting at).

Latest album Fluorescence has been out a couple of months; well worth spending some of your pocket money on. But below the words – a 2007 single that’s a particular favourite in the LGM compound. Pull up a wine glass; the floorboards are strangely comfortable at 3am.

Asobi Seksu / Walk On The Moon

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lazerguidedmelody

This was once an attempt to write of the socio-political constructs within modern culture. Instead it's become a music blog, and I'm usually drunk when I write it. Ho-hum.
View all posts by lazerguidedmelody

11 thoughts on “Day 1,876 of the Shoegaze Revival”

I had the most amazing experience hearing their latest Fluorescence live quite by accident back in May. My virgin ears were, to put it mildly, chapped sore and blissed for days following that show. Also, I really like 3 am floorboards, whether or not they like me.

Genevieve: glad Asobi have paid you a visit – even if by accident. There’s something of the mesmerizing to their sound, even if they’re one of those bands you need to see live to fully understand.

3am floorboards, however… one day we’ll learn – but probably not yet.

Colin: thanks for sharing the Slowdive visual imagery with the class. I usually prefer the Dead Kennedy’s ‘Too Drunk To Fuck’ in such circumstance…but I’ll stop that joke just there, before rumour starts.

But more seriously – was you who introduced me to Moose, for which the thanks are manifold. ‘Suzanne’ in particular is an immense piece of sound. Future blog post material, I’ve long been thinking.

Live, they were transcendental. I have to say it was the live show that spoiled Fluorescence for me a bit, now I listen to it on paltry speakers and miss the anthemic epic je ne sais quoi they have live. Ooh Colin… Slowdive hmmm hmmm indeed.

Colin – lowering the tone most wonderfully so!! That Slowdive video is beyond beautiful, it might the most lovely thing I’ve heard in months…. indeed as one comment said, who does have footage like that!?

LGM – I saw them at Fitzgerald’s which according to the all-knowing search medium indicates capacity is around 700 but there were probably only 250ish present during their set. The sound was all-encompassing and one of the more lovely qualities of the venue is that the wood floors bounce and shake creating a full interactive experience. 🙂

The thing is, I was never very persuaded by the studio recording of ‘Melon Yellow’ but live it just soared. And this practice session version is beautiful. As another comment mentions – if only every drummer looked so comfortable/at ease behind their kit…